Alien Gothic is live and available for purchase at Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords/Draft2Digital for $2.99! Clicking on the book cover below will redirect you to the platform of your choice. It’s also available in paperback at Amazon for $8.99. (I’m working on expanding distribution for the paperback soon, so check this web site for updates!)
It’s Teaser Tuesday, and we’re officially 12 days away from the release of my YA sci-fi mystery (with lots of angst and romance), Alien Gothic! In anticipation, below are the first 1,000 (okay, it’s more like 1,200) words of Chapter 1:
I hate…
Well, to be honest, I hate a lot of things. I hate morning people. And mornings. And people. Although I have nothing against sports, really, I detest anything school spirit-related. I enjoy my science classes, but I’m not big on science fiction.
So, I consider it very unfortunate that, at 7:15 a.m.—a time when I’d rather walk barefoot on glass than interact with anyone—an alien is blocking the entrance to Pearl Falls High.
Not a real alien, of course. Andy the Alien, our school mascot. “Andy” is neon green, with wobbly antennae and large, teardrop-shaped black eyes. He or she saunters back and forth in front of the doors, shuffling a small stack of papers between gloved hands. Flyers, probably for something school spirit-related. Which means Andy is going to stop me and try to give me said flyer. Nope. No thank you.
Sure enough, as I dive for the door, a gangly green arm shoots in front of me, waving one of the flyers in my face. “We’re having a spirit booth this year at the Pearl Falls UFO Convention,” a muffled, male voice says, “the country’s fifth largest UFO con—”
“I know what it is.” The convention is the only reason anyone would ever bother visiting Pearl Falls, attracting so-called UFO enthusiasts (a.k.a. weirdos and conspiracy theorists) from all over the country. Sidestepping the arm, I force a smile. “And no, thanks.”
“Well, feel free to stop by the booth and…hey, wait a minute.” I’ve already yanked open the door, but for some reason, his words make me pause. “You’re Celeste, right? I heard about your grandpa. I’m really sorry.”
Jesus Christ. Does the whole town know Pappy died over the summer? Actually, given who my grandfather is—was—they probably do. “F*ck off,” I snap, going inside.
“Sor-ry,” he calls after me. “I was just trying to be nice!”
His apology is lost in a cacophony of slamming lockers, squealing sneakers, and people shouting to each other across the hall. I guess I thought the first day of senior year would feel different, somehow. But, except for getting accosted by an overeager space alien, everything feels pretty much the same old so far.
“Hey, Loony Lowe!” someone yells at me. The same old nickname. I ignore him, much more interested in the piece of paper taped to the front of my locker. It reads, in a bold, curvy font:
Show your school spirit at
PUFO CON,
the country’s fifth largest UFO convention!
Wear school colors, and stop by booth #67 to win prizes!
Beneath the text is a black-and-white photograph of a blurry, saucer-shaped object hovering over some mountains. Not just any photograph. The photograph.
The Lowe UFO.
“You working the convention this year, Loony?”
While I was reading, a small herd of sheep have flocked over to me, all pointing fingers and poorly suppressed giggles. “Working it?” a different sheep pipes up. “Her family practically runs it.”
I scowl. “Which one of you morons did this?” Smiles falter, and there are a lot of shaking heads and murmurs of “not me” as the herd disbands. When I tear the flyer down, it nearly rips in two. Crushing it up, I chuck it to the floor. It lands with a faint, unsatisfying whuff.
My backpack, on the other hand, makes a much more pleasing clang as I toss it to the bottom of the locker.
“Pardon me—”
“What?” Slamming the locker shut again, I whirl around. There’s a boy I don’t recognize beside me, his mouth hanging open. He is tall and lanky, his chin-length hair so blonde it almost shines silver. Light blue eyes blink at me.
“You, uh…dropped this.” When he holds up one of his pale, slender hands, it’s clutching the wrinkled flyer. A heavy-looking, metallic blue ring glints from his middle finger.
“Oh.” Unsure of what to do, I accept it from him. “Thanks, but I don’t actually need it. It’s trash.”
“I’m sorry,” he says quickly. “I can recycle it for you, if you’d like.” Speaking of weirdos. This kid is attractive, in a rather pretty way. But he gives awkward a run for its money. Not to mention the navy slacks and white collared shirt. He’s dressed like a teacher.
“I got it,” I insist. “I shouldn’t have just thrown it on the floor, anyway. I was mad. Someone put it on my locker as a joke.”
“I see.” He nods, but his brow is wrinkled as if he doesn’t quite understand. Great. Now the weird new kid thinks I’m weird.
“Oh, Mich-ael!” a girl calls over. This voice, I’d recognize anywhere. Mallory Isaac—the Queen Sheep—clops over to us, her second-in-command, Ava Coolidge, in tow.
“One thing you’ll have to learn at Pearl Falls High, Michael,” Mallory continues, flashing her pearly whites, “is about the hierarchy. People like me, Ava—and you, of course—are at the top. The rest—” she makes sure to catch my gaze for this last bit— “are the bottom-dwellers.”
Guess I have a pretty good idea who taped that PUFO Con flyer to my locker. “One thing you’ll have to learn about this school, Michael.” Despite my flaming cheeks, the words somehow come out clipped and cool. “Some people, like us, are normal humans. While others are vapid bimbos.” I mirror Mallory’s bright smile.
Queenie stiffens, but her grin never falters. “Ava?” she says pointedly to her friend. “Don’t you have anything you want to say?”
Uncertainty flickers in Ava’s hazel eyes. Stepping toward me, she flips some of her honey blonde hair over her shoulder. “Michael is my guy. And you know what happens to people who try to take my things, leech.”
“I’m not your guy.” The new kid’s quick, curt reply takes me by surprise. From the stricken look on Ava’s face, it’s shocked her, too. Shaking his head, Michael walks away.
Ava, chin trembling, watches him go. For the briefest of moments—and I’m talking one billionth of one second brief—I almost feel bad for her. But hell hasn’t frozen over yet.
“Ugh. You chased him off.” A beat later, and the cheerleader is back to her normal self, glowering at me. “It’s like you’re hot guy repellant.”
I can’t help it. I burst out laughing. “I didn’t chase him off. He left because he doesn’t like you.”
Both sheep gasp. “Take that back!” Ava cries. “Leech.”
“No way, you…stupid b*tch.”
“I said…” She takes another measured step toward me. Then another. And another. “Take. That. Back.” On the last word, she thrusts out a manicured hand, jabbing me in the shoulder. Her fingernails scrape over the thin material of my black dress.
“Don’t touch me.” To go with the dress, I’m wearing a pair of fingerless gloves, but underneath the black lace…God, I hate it when this happens. I don’t know how to describe it, except that it feels something like thousands of fire ants scuttling beneath my skin. Whatever you do, I remind myself, do not lose control.
“Girl fight!” There’s a shout. The sheep are back, forming a semicircle around us. Ava shoves me again, so hard this time I go stumbling into the locker behind me.
“Take it back,” she says, “and I won’t have to.”
“Oh, that is it.” Anger flares up inside me. The invisible fire ants swarm. I lunge for Ava, but she’s already grabbing a fistful of my hair. She pulls. Crying out, I clap a hand over hers, trying to unclasp her fingers. I’m touching her, but barely.
I hear the rattle of metal, a jarring sound in the abruptly silent corridor, before I realize what’s happened.
*****
Click on the book cover to preorder!
Description:
Celeste Lowe is no stranger to the strange. Living in tiny Pearl Falls, Oregon—infamous for PUFO Con, its annual UFO and sci-fi convention—it’s hard not to be. Plus, Celeste is rather strange herself: She can move objects without touching them. Mostly, she avoids using her unusual ability altogether, not even to retaliate against her arch nemesis, Ava Coolidge. Then comes the day she’s forced to defend not only herself, but Ava’s older brother, Dave, against two unlikely attackers.
As the son of the most powerful family in town, Dave represents everything Celeste hates. Or thought she hated. But the golden boy of Pearl Falls is nothing like she expects. When one of their attackers turns up dead, Dave’s determined to protect Celeste and her secret, lest anyone assume the worst. What’s more, the mysterious markings on the body mirror those seen in another unsolved murder: Dave’s own mother’s.
With Celeste, Dave, and their friends forming an unlikely alliance to solve these cold cases, she’s finding it harder and harder to keep her secret. And just as she’s opening her heart for the first time, she learns that Dave has a secret of his own.
Content Warning: Alien Gothic contains some descriptions of dead bodies. A side character has been accused of SA at his college, but, although he does verbally harass the main character, there is no on-the-page SA. One of the alien civilizations in the book was nearly wiped out in a genocide, but again, this is all background information.
Myself, my husband, and our daughter were sick for two weeks, including over Easter weekend. And in the back of my mind during that time, I’m like “Hmmm…yeah…my next novel is set to come out May 11, 2024. I should probably be, like, promoting it or something?”
Thus, I have emerged from the haze of the flu, or whatever the heck we had (it wasn’t COVID – we already did that, too, this winter) to promote my YA sci-fi mystery romance, Alien Gothic. Read on for the deets and book summary, but in short, I’m calling it Riverdale meets The X-Files. If you like the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Roswell (yes, the late 90s WB show), or Animorphs, Alien Gothic might be up your alley.
If you’d like to apply for a review copy (mobi, epub, or pdf versions are available) of Alien Gothic, sign up here. You can also preorder it for $2.99 from all of the major e-book distributors (the link redirects you to the platform of your choice!).
I’ve been working on the story that eventually became Alien Gothic for…a long time. I’m not even sure I want to admit how long, lol. There’s that quote attributed to Albert Einstein, although who knows if he actually said it: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Well, I’ve certainly learned a lot about writing craft and publishing since I self-published my first novel, Reborn, a little over ten years ago (has it really been that long?!). So when I went back and dusted this idea off, I did expect to turn it into something better and more relevant.
Thinking about it tonight, the core premise of AG – a young woman who is special, and wishes she wasn’t – isn’t all that different from Reborn. (I’m not sure why I keep returning to this theme of the reluctant heroine in my writing, but we’ll table that discussion for another post.) Whereas Reborn was often very high stakes (averting the a p o c a l y p s e), much of AG is just a girl trying to solve a mystery when her best friend is wrongfully accused of murder.
Well, okay, there is the whole impending alien invasion, too.
I’ll talk more about the inspirations for the book (and maybe the title) in the weeks leading up to Alien Gothic‘s release on May 11. For now, I leave you with the synopsis. Happy almost Thursday, and happy reading!
*****
Celeste Lowe is no stranger to the strange. Living in tiny Pearl Falls, Oregon—infamous for PUFO Con, its annual UFO and sci-fi convention—it’s hard not to be. Plus, Celeste is rather strange herself: She can move objects without touching them. Mostly, she avoids using her unusual ability altogether, not even to retaliate against her arch nemesis, Ava Coolidge. Then comes the day she’s forced to defend not only herself, but Ava’s older brother, Dave, against two unlikely attackers.
As the son of the most powerful family in town, Dave represents everything Celeste hates. Or thought she hated. But the golden boy of Pearl Falls is nothing like she expects. When one of their attackers turns up dead, Dave’s determined to protect Celeste and her secret, lest anyone assume the worst. What’s more, the mysterious markings on the body mirror those seen in another unsolved murder: Dave’s own mother’s.
With Celeste, Dave, and their friends forming an unlikely alliance to solve these cold cases, she’s finding it harder and harder to keep her secret. And just as she’s opening her heart for the first time, she learns that Dave has a secret of his own.
With only ten days to go until Retribution releases July 1, I thought I’d share the first part of Chapter 1.
There are three main threads in the novel. Most of it is told from, of course, Siobhan’s perspective. The second chunk is from Carly’s. The third is a surprise, but it’s someone readers are familiar with (and will probably figure out fairly quickly). Your first clue is that Chapter 1 is called “Eric”. Your second clue is this playlist.
By the way, the Reborn series box set is on sale for Kindle through Wednesday morning. And you can pre-order Retribution here.
~
Every night, in my dreams, I return to the lake.
I kneel on the pebbled shore, swirling a finger through sepia-toned waters. Deep down, I know the color is wrong. But I also know I’m dreaming.
Think I’m dreaming.
Small waves lap the beach, rhythmic, endless, leaving behind dark, damp stones and traces of brown sludge. If I listen closely, I can hear the waves whispering. If I listen closer still, I can make out the words.
Feel me. See me. Know me.
I spring to my feet, shivering. But the whispers are a chorus now, pounding like blood in my temples.
Feel me.
See me.
Know me.
Hitching a breath, I dip my toes in the water. It is ice, but it is also a balm, the lake’s song diminishing to a murmur once again. I tiptoe forward until the water is ankle-deep. A little further still, and it doesn’t feel so bad anymore, the waves skimming my legs like indolent fingers.
Calves, knees, torso, shoulders—soon everything save for my head is submerged. I pause, treading water, and scan the lake. It is silent now. And I am alone.
There’s a pressure at my back, warm and slippery, like an eel slithering around my waist. It hooks my hip, shocking the breath out of me. A final squeeze, and I’m tugged entirely into the water.
Down here, the world is black ice. Everything is numbing, burning, crushing pain. I fight and thrash, but nothing I do makes any difference. Whatever has ahold of me isn’t letting go, dragging me down, down, down into more dark silence.
***
He is down here, in these muddy waters. I can’t see him, but his presence swells with every yard I fall. He sleeps. Dreams. Waits.
He waits for me.
It’s officially summer!
And to celebrate summer, and the release of Retribution in a little over a week, the Reborn series box set is on sale starting today, June 21 at 11 a.m., through July 23 at 11 a.m. EST. The box set includes the first three books in the series, as well as two companion novellas. Get caught up before Retribution releases on July 1!
You can pre-order Retribution here. For all you KU subscribers, the entire series is also available through Kindle Unlimited.
Series Summary: Siobhan Elliot’s World Myths and Legends class was supposed to be an easy way to get elective credit. Instead, she gets an unexpected—and unwanted—blast from the past in the form of the course’s handsome teaching assistant, Jasper Hart. He puts the cliché tall, dark and handsome to shame, but that’s the least of Siobhan’s worries. Because she’s met him before.
And he’s definitely not human.
Back then, their brief encounter left her with a unique but uncontrollable power, forever altering her young adult life. Now, the only person who can tell her the truth about who—and what—she really is doesn’t seem to remember her.
Even so, Jasper’s return opens a whole new world to Siobhan, one straight from the pages of her World Myths and Legends textbook. Her already bizarre life is about to be turned upside down, and nothing—not even her sorority, Gamma Lambda Phi—is left untouched. A world where Greek mythology meets Greek life, legendary lovers reunite, and nothing is what it seems.
And that’s just the beginning. This Reborn Series box set features the first three books in the series (REBORN, RELAPSE, and RECLAIM) and two bonus novellas (REVENGE and RECTIFY).
Happy Thursday! I haven’t really done a book review on this blog for quite some time. But, I recently read Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air trilogy, and I have thoughts, lol.
It’s been awhile since I felt like anything pulled me in as much as this series did. And it was somewhat unexpected. I read the first book, The Cruel Prince, early last year, probably a month or so before the pandemic began. I really liked it! But it took me until this past month to read the next two (The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing). I was so pulled in that I actually went back and re-read The Cruel Prince, then read the other two again before I had to return them to the library. I rarely re-read books at all, let alone this soon after the first read, haha. I was curious to see, though, what clues Holly Black might have sprinkled throughout the series leading up to its conclusion.
So, this post is sort of part book review, part discussion of themes that I liked in the trilogy. First, the review part: top-notch books, five million stars. Lol. (I should note, too, the title of today’s post is borrowed from How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories, a short story collection and companion to TFOTA.)
The series centers around Jude Duarte, a girl whose parents were murdered by the Folk and then raised by their murderer, a redcap named Madoc, in Elfhame. Jude and her twin sister, Taryn, have quite a different upbringing in Elfhame than they would have in the human world, to say the least. The fairy world is one filled with intrigue, epic political rivalries, debauchery, and violence. In the first book, Jude has aspirations of becoming a knight. She craves both physical armor and the respect such a position would grant her, but she’s also, in a sense, armored her emotions, her heart, just to survive as a human in Elfhame.
Jude is a great, and perhaps rare, type of character in YA literature. She is unapologetically ambitious and will do anything to take, and hold onto, even a little bit of power in the fairy world. Especially in the first book, she’s very nearly, if not entirely, a psychopath. She also has a bloodthirsty streak.
There’s actually quite a lot of political intrigue going on in this series, so it’s unfair to boil it down to its central romance. But, what a “romance” it is. Cardan is the youngest prince of Elfhame. When they’re in school together, he and his friends are bullies, and to say Jude hates him is an understatement. Cardan “hates” her at the start, too, although perhaps it’s more fair to say that he hates himself for not actually hating her, a puny human.
If you’re an enemies-to-lovers fan, this is the trilogy for you. And clearly from some of the reviews I’ve seen after finishing the series, not everyone is a fan of this, and that’s fine. This aspect of the book seems to have gotten some slack because Cardan is, of course, a bully at the beginning, and for some readers, that’s a deal breaker. But, although I think it’s fair to say a relationship like this doesn’t translate well to real life (and it doesn’t have to), I love the themes Holly Black is able to explore with this dynamic.
Because it’s true, Cardan is cruel at the start of the series (although some of his friends are arguably worse), but Jude is also horrible, in her way. Like I said, she will do anything to get ahead, to feel like she has at least some control in a world she knows is against her. And this includes tricking, lying, and controlling Cardan in The Wicked King. Cardan has a troubled past that explains much of why he is the way he is, and he grows out of this by the end of the series. One of the themes of the trilogy is that boys can change, and I actually think this is really important. Not in a sense that you should be in a relationship with someone who bullies you (you absolutely shouldn’t), but in a more general sense. Like, honestly, boys absorb a lot of toxic messages, whether they’re aware of it or not, about what it means to be a man. But, as you get older, you can learn new things – realize what you’ve been taught or raised to believe isn’t necessarily true – and change your perspective as a result.
Jude, too, goes through a learning process throughout the series. She comes to learn that loving someone doesn’t mean controlling them. The emotional armor she’s built around herself begins, slowly, to chip away.
I think this trilogy’s themes also resonated with me because (shameless plug alert), it reminded me of what I was trying to do in my Reborn series. In Reborn and Relapse, Siobhan and Jasper have a pretty toxic relationship. They could both use a lesson in love does not equal control. Jasper blatantly manipulates Siobhan in the first book, believing he has her best interests in mind. In the second book, I try to reverse their roles a bit. Jasper is starting to come around, disliking the darker version of himself he’s become. And, despite everything, he does love Siobhan. She knows this. She knows this, exploits it because she gets something from him, too – but can’t give herself entirely to him, emotionally. Siobhan, in this way, is hurting him right back; she’s aware of it, but she goes ahead with it, anyway.
Another aspect of Holly Black’s trilogy I appreciated was the way she reversed gender roles. In addition to wanting to become a knight, Jude has many of the personality traits that, if we do see them, we usually see them in male characters. Like I said, she’s shamelessly ambitious, needs to control everything, and has a penchant for solving problems with violence. And, this is a bit superficial, but I also love how Cardan is the “flashy” one, ha. Jude does get dressed up in the books, but she tends to gravitate toward more practical clothing, while Cardan’s closets are full of fancy attire.
Anyway, these kinds of role reversals are what I like to see in books, and also what I tried to incorporate in Retribution. I want to see heroines who are ambitious, complicated, controlling, bloodthirsty, unapologetic. “Monster” girls, as Holly Black might say.
If you are a fan of YA, fantasy, and romance, I highly recommend The Folk of the Air books!
Happy…Tuesday, dearies. (I had to double-check that it was, indeed, Tuesday before I typed that.)
This is just a quick post to announce my new author newsletter. It has been on my mind to start one for some time, but I guess it took a pandemic for me to actually do it…
I’ll be moving most of my book announcements to the newsletter and also plan to share exclusive excerpts and such from works-in-progress. Sign up below so you don’t miss anything! As always, we will only use your information to send you book-related updates and marketing via the newsletter, and we won’t share your information with others.
Stay safe and healthy out there. And happy reading. ❤
Happy Saturday! Today I’m happy to be a part of the cover reveal for The Awakened, a YA science fiction novel by Sara Elizabeth Santana. I “met” Sara through her blog, What A Nerd Girl Says, and I’m super excited for Sara and her new book! The official release date is December 1, 2015, so make sure to mark your calendars. It will be available in Kindle and paperback formats, and preorder will be available for the Kindle edition! I think the cover looks pretty fab:
Synopsis:
Zoey Valentine is concerned with two things: surviving the multitude of self-defense classes her dad makes her take and avoiding Ash Matthews.
That is, until the Z virus hits, wiping out a third of the population in a matter of weeks. If that weren’t frightening enough, the bodies of the victims disappear and suddenly reappear, awakened from their dead state. They’re faster, smarter, and they work together to get the one thing they crave, human flesh.
The United States is in a panic and then the government decides the unthinkable: to bomb every major city overrun with the awakened.
Now Zoey is on the run, with her dad and Ash, desperate to find a place of safety amongst the ruined remains of the country.
Add The Awakened on Goodreads.
***
Author Bio:
Sara Elizabeth Santana is a young adult and new adult fiction writer. She has worked as a smoothie artist, Disneyland cast member, restaurant supervisor, nanny, photographer, pizza delivery driver and barista but writing is what she loves most. Her first story was written at age nine. She runs her own nerd girl/book review blog, What A Nerd Girl Says. Her favorite books are a tie between Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling and Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce. She lives in Southern California with her dad, five siblings and two dogs. Her debut novel is The Awakened.
You can also visit Sara at her website.
Clockwork Angel is the first book in Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices trilogy. I love Ms. Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series (City of Heavenly Fire is sitting on my bookcase, waiting patiently for me to read it…but it looks sort of daunting…), and it took me awhile to get around to starting The Infernal Devices…but I am oh so glad I did. For me, it was a five-star read. In my opinion, the back cover book summary does not do this book justice. It makes it sound like it’s only about a love triangle–which, for better or for worse, there is a love triangle in this book. That device has sort of exploded along with YA lit in recent years. But anyway, there is so much more going on in this book than that, and I fell in love with all of the characters.
Our heroine, Teresa (Tessa) Gray, comes over to London from the States when she gets a note from her brother, Nathaniel, who moved there for work. Unfortunately, in London she falls into the clutches of the Dark Sisters. They force her to practice her unique ability–with the touch of a personal item, Tessa can shape shift into the person it belongs to–a power she didn’t even know she had until now. If she doesn’t do as the Dark Sisters say, they threaten to hurt Nate. Things are looking pretty grim when they inform Tessa that she is ready to marry the mysterious, powerful Magister. Thankfully, a group of Shadowhunters break into the Dark House and rescue Tessa on what would probably have been her wedding day.
Tessa becomes a guest at the London Institute, run by Charlotte and Henry Branwell and home to three orphans: Jessamine Lovelace, James (Jem) Carstairs, and Will Herondale. She learns about the Nephilim, the world of the Shadowhunters, and the Downworld of vampires, werewolves, faeries and warlocks–the world she herself is a part of. Much of the book is Tessa learning to accept this knowledge, and to accept herself and her ability. There’s also a lot of great action, suspense, and yes, romantic tension, as well as an unexpected twist toward the end.
I loved all of the characters in this book. Cassandra Clare does a magnificent job of weaving together the world of the Shadowhunters with Victorian England. Charlotte, who is truly in charge at the Institute, struggles to make her voice and opinion heard at the Enclave meetings mostly dominated by men. Henry, on the other hand, is too busy tinkering with inventions to run much of anything. I loved Henry–he was the eccentric scientist/inventor whose inventions never quite worked the way they were supposed to. These two worlds also conflict in the character of Jessamine. She’s an aspiring proper Victorian lady who claims to reject her calling as a Shadowhunter, but she’s kind of a bad ass when duty calls. Her parasol turns into a weapon (that was a nice touch).
And then there’s Will and Jem–parabatai, like Jace and Alec are in TMI. There’s a bit of mystery surrounding each of them; both seem to harbor dark secrets, especially Will. Tessa finds herself drawn to each of them, of course. Jem is kind and brave, but unfortunately suffers from a mystery illness that makes it difficult for him to fight. And Will…..well, Will is the gorgeous, dark-haired, arrogant, sarcastic, broody one who lashes out at people because he’s compensating for his inner turmoil/vulnerability–so, naturally, he’s my favorite. Sorry not sorry. You get to find out Jem’s secret in Clockwork Angel, but Will’s past and why he’s so broody and angry is still shrouded in mystery at the end of the book, which was REALLY frustrating, and made me want to read the next two immediately, except I don’t have them yet. I mean…Will’s not the only reason I want to keep reading, but I won’t pretend like he’s not one of the reasons. Oh, Cassandra Clare, why must you do this to me?
Clockwork Angel also had an awesome ending. Besides the twist, Tessa learns to at least partly accept her unique ability and uses it in a really incredible way. I much prefer when the main character outwits his or her opponent rather than killing them or something. I mean, if the villain was dead after the first book, it probably wouldn’t have been a trilogy, but I just think it makes for a more creative resolution. Tessa is a strong female lead, and I’m excited to see how she grows in the series.
Last but not least, I’m so glad Magnus Bane is immortal, so that he can be in ALL of Cassandra Clare’s books. He was only around a little bit in this book, but the ending hints that he might have a bigger presence in Clockwork Prince. I hope. He better.
I wanted to post a special romantic excerpt for Valentine’s Day, so here’s one from my current WIP Relapse. (Keep in mind this is from the first draft, and I don’t know if it will even end up in the final version.) It’s a flashback Siobhan has of Psyche’s/her wedding day. I hope to do some more research into actual Greek wedding customs, haha. But anyway it’s cute, and I hope you enjoy it!
****
I study myself in a full-length, gold framed mirror. I’ve grown used to the face staring back at me in these memories—Psyche’s face. The large, deep violet eyes are the same, but she has higher cheekbones and a slightly upturned nose. Hair falls like a white-blonde waterfall down her back. She smooths out pretend wrinkles in her one shoulder, white silk dress and adjusts the gold cord tied at the waist beneath her breasts. Her wings emerge through slits in the back of the dress. The bronze wings of a butterfly-shaped necklace spread across the delicate, pale skin of her chest.
In the mirror, I see an auburn head peek around the door behind me. Nike comes in, a white tunic draped over her tall, thin frame. Her hair is long and plaited into a thick braid down her back.
“You look beautiful,” she says, giving me a quick hug. “It is time to go down.”
Nodding, I follow her out into the corridor, our white slippers whispering over the marble floor.
The next thing I remember is standing on the pale sands of the beach, just out of reach from where the ocean waves slither up the coast. My fingers are curled around a bouquet of unfamiliar white flowers. Nike and, to my surprise, Aphrodite stand on either side of me. Aphrodite, like always, is willowy and golden, her beauty almost as painful to look at as the blinding sun above us.
People stand on either side of a strip of sand leading to my soon-to-be husband. I have a vague memory of what Psyche’s parents looked like, but I don’t see them among the onlookers. Two women with braided blonde hair and hooked noses lurk toward the back of the crowd, scowling at me: Psyche’s biological sisters. Sunlight glints off of Hephaestus’s smooth head somewhere closer to the front. I don’t see Ares.
Aphrodite and Nike walk with me up the aisle. I see a few more faces that look familiar, but I can’t think of their names. One is a tall woman with copper skin, an athletic build and a proud demeanor. Her almond-shaped eyes are as dark as the shiny black hair flowing freely to her waist. As I pass her, she smiles warmly. On the other side of the path is a short but sinewy man with curly dark hair. His pupils are black slits rimmed with reddish irises. Gold wings decorate the backs of his sandals. Beside him stands a girl with bouncing brown curls and watery blue eyes. Her small, pale hands clap excitedly as I walk by. When our eyes meet, her lips pull back into something between a smile and a grimace as she fights to hold back more tears. I return it with a hesitant smile of my own. I look away from the crowd and realize I’m almost at the end. Leaving Aphrodite and Nike behind me, I pick up the skirt of my dress and run the last few feet.
Almost immediately, Eros takes my free hand into his. A breeze ruffles his dark hair away from his golden face. His lips twitch upwards only slightly, but his body is tensed with barely contained excitement. He’s not wearing much except for what looks like a sheet wrapped around his waist, tied with a yellow cord. I resist the sudden urge to run my fingers up and down the rippling muscles of his chest and abdomen.
I hand the bouquet off to Nike and step closer into Eros’s arms, his wings enveloping us in a feathery white curtain. He slides a ring made of an iridescent white metal onto my finger.
“With this ring, I am bound to you, always and forever,” he recites, his breath fresh and sweet against my face.
I slide a similar ring onto his finger and repeat, “With this ring, I am bound to you, always and forever.”
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